


Mandarin For Eel

by Braxdovah



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade, White Wolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23779582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braxdovah/pseuds/Braxdovah





	Mandarin For Eel

The laughter rings in my ears. The insults I had just gleaned the meaning of echoing in my mind. About five boys, older than me from the looks of them walking closer to me on the dock. They jest as they block off the dry side of the dock. 

“Pretty for a boy.”  
“Are you sure he is a boy and not a girl?”  
“Don't run, bunny.”

The inflection of the last word sickly sweet and cloying in the late summer air. The sounds of the dock workers finishing up for the night carry over to the one we are standing on. The biggest of the boys steps closer and I clench my fists. Running had never crossed my mind. 

“Come here. I be gentle.” 

His accent grates on my ears and I look around, unluckily all that is sitting on the dock is a few barrels of eels. Live if my mandarin can be trusted. He barks to the two behind him. I can guess the gist of the words as they surge forward and pin me between them and the barrels. He smiles and I want to break his face. 

“Behave or we share.”

He must have lost his mind if he thinks I will 'behave'. I lunge forward and as expected he doesn't react fast enough. My fingers have a grip on his hair and I slam him face first into the barrel to my left. The lid slides loose and I curse my luck. The other four are too confused to act as I confiscate the knife he had tucked in his belt and beckon them closer. 

“Come on then, you lot wanted me a second ago. Fucking bastard cowards.” 

The two in the back decide that even with numbers, they don't want to find if I can use the knife and back away, vanishing into the dark. The one on my right grabs my arm and takes a shallow cut to his gut for the effort, yelping as I jab the blade in deeper. His leader struggling to regain his footing, it seems the blood dripping into the water is provoking the eels. As I strive to keep control of the blade, it twists and wrenches his wound open and he staggers away, falling into the water. Looking around one more, it seems I am all but alone with the leader of 'such loyal' thugs. I drag the panicked idiot out of the barrel by his hair. 

“Scared of the eels?”

I wipe the blade on his cheek. 

“No speak.”

He nods as if bargaining with me and I smile, before jabbing the blade into the lid. I would need both hands for this.

“You can talk all you want, my family are the only ones that will hear you.”

His confusion turns to fear as I tip him into the barrel. The frothing of the water turning pink. Belatedly, I recognize the symbol on the barrel. Shark, hmm. Close enough. I would remember it from now on.


End file.
